GORDON Strachan, whose five-year reign at Coventry City came to an end today, was the victim of the long-suffering fans? frustration.

And it was the sale of Chris Kirkland for #8 million to Liverpool that finally pushed the supporters into decisive action.

Angered at what they saw as the conveyor belt of talent out of Highfield Road, a group of fans had 10,000 placards printed urging chairman Bryan Richardson and major shareholder Geoffrey Robinson to quit the club.

But when Grimsby went 1-0 up their attentions inevitably turned to Strachan and there were some regrettable scenes as the embattled manager needed security guards to leave the pitch safely.

It?s unfair to blame the fans, who have shown incredible loyalty towards the former Scotland, Leeds and Manchester United midfielder, too much.

Whether Strachan jumped or was pushed is irrelevant. What is clear is that his position had become untenable.

As the man in charge during the end of Coventry City?s 34-year run in the top flight, his future rested on clear proof that the team were heading for a swift return to the Premier League.

At any other club in the country he would not have been given the chance.

Indeed, there is a strong case for arguing there should have been a change of management 12 months ago, when a similarly disastrous start to the season was already showing all the classic signs of a team in freefall.

It?s a decline that has continued unchecked to today, when the Sky Blues find themselves seventh from bottom of Nationwide Division One, with only four points from five games.

Incredibly - or not so incredibly to the growing number of fans who?d lost faith in the 44-year-old - City are already flirting with another relegation battle.

Despite all of his ferocious efforts from the touchline, the fiery Scot could only watch in frustration, his post-match comments growing ever more bizarre.

Last summer was almost a repeat of the disabling build-up to City?s final Premier League campaign, when the sudden loss of Gary McAllister and Robbie Keane undermined Strachan?s team-building efforts.

After pinning their faith on the veracity of John Hartson?s public vow that he wouldn?t leave City - ?not even for Manchester United? - he was then promptly sold to Celtic for #6.5million, Richardson protesting loudly that the player had been ?tapped-up?.

Also out of the revolving door went Craig Bellamy to Newcastle and Mustapha Hadji to Aston Villa.

The deal which took Hadji to Villa saw Julian Joachim arrive in part exchange, while Coventry also splashed out #5million to sign Lee Hughes from West Brom.

Hughes scored on his debut in the opening day win at Stockport, but the Sky Blues have only earned a point since then.

The sale of England Under-21 keeper Chris Kirkland to Liverpool last week was the final straw for many fans, who wondered exactly what was going on.

Three defeats in their opening five games was hardly the start the City faithful were counting on.

Over the course of the season, Strachan may well have been able to use sheer force of personality to change things around.

But given the strength of feeling behind the hostility to the former Scotland international emanating from the stands on Saturday, it was perhaps no surprise that he decided enough was enough. It?s only a game after all.

The angry scenes which followed the 1-0 reverse at home to the Mariners, with several fans having to be restrained by police, were a far cry from the success that the 44-year-old had enjoyed in his playing days.

Strachan was an attacking runner, a hurrier and scurrier who could pass as well, the key operator in the middle of the park.

He was the inspirational figure who helped Aberdeen break up the Old Firm monopoly in Scotland and enabled Howard Wilkinson to lay the ghost of Don Revie to rest.

After he was tempted south to Manchester United by Ron Atkinson in 1984, where he won the FA Cup the following year, a downward step to Division Two with Leeds seemed to be signalling the end in 1989.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as Strachan inspired the return to the glory days at Elland Road, culminating in the First Division championship season of 1992.

Naturally his attentions soon turned to a future inside the game and with his switch to Coventry in March 1995 as assistant to Atkinson, it seemed that, at last, the dream team was in place to turn the Sky Blues into a force in the top flight, rather than perennial relegation strugglers.

But those hopes never came to fruition, even when Strachan, OBE, took sole charge soon after, surviving relegation on the final day in the Scots? first full season at the helm.